It really wasn't my intention to turn this into an in-depth discussion of Blackjack tournaments, but that's the joy of owning your own site - say what you want to say, when you want to say it.

As the brick-and-mortar casinos struggle with Blackjack tournaments (see my article "Blackjack Tournaments - A new Era?" on the GameMaster's Secrets page here) due to a lack of profits from them, the Internet casinos will become the most viable alternative for the public to participate in these events. I suppose there will always be some appeal to playing in a tournament "live", but the Internet tournaments are signaling the beginning of the end for them, unless a lot of changes are made. People in the Blackjack tournament industry like to point to the way poker tournaments at brick-and mortar casinos have enjoyed spectacular growth in the past few years, but I doubt that Blackjack tournaments will enjoy the same type of growth, at least in the near future.

The industry needs to remember that the explosive growth in poker tournaments was fueled not only by the televising of poker tournaments, but also by the growth of poker on the Internet. Is one more important than the other? I honestly don't know, but I do know that Internet poker sites send thousands of players to "live" tournaments through the satellite system that allows someone to roll a $40 investment into a $1.5 million pay day, as Chris Moneymaker did at the World Series of Poker in 2003. Of course, the television aspect of poker tournaments was greatly enhanced by the implementation of tiny cameras that allow us to see each player's hole cards as they play; without those, poker tournaments are borrrrrring.

Blackjack has no need for pocket-cams, but is there an equivalent that will revolutionize the televising of BJ tournaments? I haven't seen anything yet. What I have seen are some made-for-television events that are composed of players there on an invitation-only basis and, while the commentary and the show's graphics regarding bet sizes, etc. were well done, these are not what I would call "exciting." With few, if any, members of the general public involved, the aspect of a Chris Moneymaker was missing and, while I agree that people enjoy watching the famous poker pros do their thing, there aren't very many famous Blackjack pros that are willing to play tournaments on TV. However, my guru, Stanford Wong was there, as was Kevin Blackwood (who wrote a great book I've reviewed here); my friend Ken Smith - of the Blackjack Basic Strategy Engine fame - was there and.....and....oh, yeah - that young lady with the nice yitties was there, Hollywood Dave (a skilled tournament player) was there and a few people who must be friends of the producers were there, but at least they offered some of the "anybody can win" aspect. Dubbed the "World Series of Blackjack" and aired on the cable channel, GSN, from it emerged a self-proclaimed "World Champion." (See www.worldblackjackchampion.com). Small world, when you consider that only 25 or 30 participants were there and each played maybe 50 or 60 hands of Blackjack.

As you can tell by my skepticism regarding events like this, I don't have a lot of faith that television is going to fuel the growth of BJ tournaments. Hopefully all future televised events will be open to anyone who has the $$$ and desire to compete, but the real growth, in my not-so-humble opinion, will come from the Internet. However, it seems that the "Old Guard" of the BJ tournament industry is, as most Old Guards are, stuck in the past. They are apparently putting most of their efforts into live events, which is fine - it's their $$$ and they should spend them as they wish. I fully understand that their background lies in brick-and-mortar events and most people are more comfortable in dealing with familiar things, but that's not necessarily the best way to go. Blackjack tournaments held at brick-and-mortar casinos are expensive to produce because they're just so labor-intensive and the casinos that host them want and deserve a fair return on their investment. Well, somebody has to pay for them and, naturally, it usually falls upon the players to do so. That's okay; people can choose to participate or not, it's a free country. The only problem is that the current "business model" for Blackjack tournaments seems to be leading toward fewer tournaments, not more, which is not quite the pattern of growth one sees in a successful venture. Enter the "New Breed", who is going to ultimately change the nature of Blackjack tournaments in many, many ways.

Okay, you're probably wondering why I'm making such a big deal out of all this stuff. Before I talk about the future of BJ tournaments, let me answer that. For over 25 years, I've been a card counter and during that entire period, I have been hated - nay, reviled - by the casinos. I've been forced to hide my skills, wear disguises and, while it's never happened to me, many of my brethren have been "back-roomed", assaulted and treated as cheaters, all because we use our brains to play the game. That doesn't happen to great poker players these days - they are treated with respect because of their skill and looked upon as shining examples of what someone can accomplish if he or she cares to invest the time to learn how to do something well. Someday, the same can be true for Blackjack players, but I believe that will happen only in a tournament setting. If the casino hosting a tournament can profit from it, regardless of the skill levels of the participants, then they're going to have a lot less heartburn over skillful Blackjack players. Admittedly, most will probably not allow us the play at the "cash" games, but that's okay. One step at a time.

So, how is the "New Breed" going to change the BJ tournament industry? One thing I'm sure of is that there are a lot of people playing tournaments online and they're gathering a lot of experience very quickly. If you play tournaments only at brick-and-mortar casinos, the opportunities are relatively limited, in that you might be able to play one tournament a day, tops. And that's if you live in a major casino center where small "daily" types of events are held; otherwise, you'll be lucky to play one tournament a week. At Global Player Casino, they hold a multi-table tournament every Wednesday and Sunday, so that's two per week, minimum. But, a multi-table tournament is really just a series of single-table events, so one can play 10, 20 or more such events every day! I average about 40 Sit & Go tournaments a week and I'm far from being the most active player there. Just like the poker world has seen, players are gaining two or three years' worth of experience in six months and those players may, one day, consider entering a tournament at a brick-and-mortar casino.

But the big question is, will those players actually want to compete in a "live" tournament? The Old Guard I referred to earlier seems to be doing very little to encourage it. You would think that those who can be described as either semi-professional or professional would welcome as many new players to the game as possible, yet the Old Guard is the group that's trying to revive Blackjack tournaments by following the old business model: events held in brick-and-mortar casinos and/or made-for-television tournaments open by invitation only. But the action is online...Hello! Far more players will become familiar with BJ tournaments online, rather than via live events, over the next few years. It's admittedly in its infancy on the Internet, but we all know that Internet years are like dog years - six to one or more. Another very big point to consider is the fact that online players expect to pay the casino some sort of fee (like the $1 I mentioned above) in order to participate in a tournament, whereas the Old Guard is constantly looking for tournaments that pay 100% of the entry fees back as prizes. Hell, I even recommend that in my lessons on tournament play that are posted here. Sadly, it's time to wave good-bye to those types of events and say hello to paying an entry fee in the future. Does the Old Guard understand that?

I'm not just pushing the Internet aspect of the tournaments because I've been so heavily involved with them myself, but also because there's a rather disturbing element to "live" tournaments that does not and cannot happen in an Internet tournament. What I'm referring to is a particular type of player cheating that comes from handling the chips. Any card counter, which most experienced tournament players are, knows very well how to "rat hole" chips; that is, remove chips from the table under the eyes of the dealer, the other players and the casino game supervisors. I can "palm" three chips at a time and you'll never see it.

In a brick-and-mortar type of tournament, you must rely upon your visual acuity alone to determine your opponents' chip totals, generally until five or three hands remain to be played, at which time a count is usually supervised by the casino personnel. Obviously, it would be a simple matter to palm two or three chips prior to that count, then add them back to your stack at some point prior to the last hand, which would of course, give you a higher total than your opponents were thinking. As far as I can see, the only way around that is to conduct a chip count after every hand during the final five hands. It happens automatically online, but most brick-and-mortar BJ tournaments are supervised by the host or marketing personnel and they very likely would never catch something like this. For "live" BJ tournaments to be successful, the ability for some players to cheat is going to have to be completely eliminated and hopefully the Old Guard recognizes that.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now. Seriously, though - if you've ever wanted to take part in a Blackjack tournament, check out Global Player Casino. For September, the qualifications in the GameMasterOnLine tournament will begin on Saturday, 9/24 and the finals will be held on Friday. 9/30. The SnGs run 24/7, but are most active from about 6 p.m. to 12 midnight, Eastern time. And, as I mentioned, a multi-table event is held every Wednesday and they've recently begun Sunday events.

The games there are honest, you'll get paid if you win and the software keeps track of everyone's chips, hand-by-hand. By the way, you can do us a favor by clicking on one of the Global Player Casino advertising banners here, which will help to keep this site free for your use. Just go to their site and you'll see links to all of the various tournaments available listed on the front page.